When Robert (Bob) Riehemann, Ph.D., looks around at modern-day life in the U.S., he sees the impact a career in STEM (science, technology, engineering or mathematics) can make.

“Sitting in a home, the lights come on with the flick of a switch, the air is warmed or cooled automatically, and fresh food is readily available in a refrigerator,” Riehemann says. “A world of information and communication is available with the touch of a finger on a screen, and entertainment is available 24/7 in thousands of forms. None of this would exist without STEM personnel.”

A professor of mathematics and physics at Thomas More University, Riehemann is co-leading an effort to introduce more students to the possibilities unlocked by a STEM degree. Together with co-instructor Zhou Dong, Ph.D. of Montgomery College, Riehemann hopes to entice students to study STEM by introducing them to game theory.

Throughout the fall 2024 semester, Riehemann and Dong ran a joint class offered both at Thomas More and Montgomery College, a two-year public community college outside of Washington, D.C., in Maryland. The topic: combinatorial game theory. If you’re not familiar with the term, it’s likely that you’ve encountered some of its basic concepts, Riehemann explains. “Famous combinatorial games include checkers, chess, and go. Typically, they involve two players, each having perfect information about the other . . . These games can be quite difficult, but mathematicians have proved that there is an optimal way to play.”

Riehemann and Dong’s class focused on Nim, one of the oldest games of strategy in the world, thought to date back to ancient China.

“The students at Thomas More are non-STEM majors . . . we look for patterns in the different ways to play the game,” Riehemann says. “The Thomas More students work with the Montgomery College students, who are STEM-focused and have programming experience. The Montgomery College students have written a computer program to play the game with varying starting positions. Together, the students study the patterns and look for mathematical descriptions.” 

The class met three times a week throughout the fall, including a virtual class on Fridays when students from both schools could meet remotely. They’re currently working to summarize their findings, to be presented in April during the Kentucky Mathematical Association of America (MAA)’s spring meeting.

The class was made possible by a grant from the Center for Undergraduate Research in Mathematics (CURM), funded by the National Science Foundation. The overarching goals for the project included forging partnerships between two-year and four-year institutions and encouraging more students to complete four-year STEM degrees. Riehemann says he also had a personal goal in mind – to identify students who are not currently studying STEM who have hidden mathematical talent. It’s how Riehemann himself became a math major, decades ago as an undergraduate student at Northern Kentucky University (NKU).

“My original plan was to be a musician, and I played drums locally.  When I went to NKU, I took a ‘physics for poets’ class…and kept getting the highest grades on the test. One day, when leaving class, the instructor, Dr. McPherson – a Thomas More graduate in physics! – asked me to become a physics major.  As I’ve said many times, he was the only person in the world to take an interest in me, so I said, ‘Why not?’ And here I am today, teaching at Dr. McPherson’s alma mater.”

Along the way, Riehemann has led a career spanning an array of topics within mathematics and physics, conducted research in quantum field theory, experimental superconductivity and mathematical physics, earned his doctorate in combinatorial game theory, and has held positions both in academia and for a multi-national corporation.

Which is why Riehemann says he knows it was a stroke of luck when, by chance, he sat down next to Dr. Dong at a recent session on undergraduate research during the MAA’s national meeting.

 “As we chatted, it became clear that we both had an interest in games, hers from teaching a class, mine for my doctorate and also teaching. CURM was emphasizing teams of two-year institutions combining with four-year institutions. Montgomery College is two-year and Thomas More is four-year. Dr. Dong suggested that we collaborate, and it worked!” Riehemann says, adding: “I’ve said several times that meeting Dr. Dong was one of the lucky events in my life.”

Nurturing a passion for STEM fields is essential, Riehemann says, especially for the next generation, who need to be prepared to grapple with a complex and challenging world.

“There are lurking dangers ahead, from climate change, through nuclear war, and these dangers need to be addressed through technical understanding, as well as the ethical portion of a liberal arts education – like the education offered at Thomas More.”